title: Cost-effectiveness for acupuncture in seasonal allergic rhinitis: economic results of the ACUSAR trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a frequent allergic disorder with a significant economic effect on health care costs and productivity.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the cost-effectiveness of acupuncture for patients with seasonal AR (SAR) in Germany.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present analysis was part of the Acupuncture in Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis (ACUSAR) trial, a 3-arm randomized, controlled, multicenter trial in patients with SAR, comparing acupuncture plus rescue medication (RM), penetrating sham acupuncture plus RM, and a control group receiving RM alone. Measures for health economic analyses were costs and health-related quality of life. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was calculated for different scenarios on the duration of acupuncture effects and was expressed as costs per quality-adjusted life-year gained. The study was conducted from society's and from a third-party payer's perspective.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From 422 initially randomized patients, a total of 364 patients with complete data on costs and quality of life were included in the health economic evaluation. Patients receiving acupuncture or sham acupuncture caused higher costs than patients in the RM group. Patients in the acupuncture group gained significantly more quality-adjusted life-years compared with the RM group. Depending on different scenarios, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for acupuncture patients was between €31,241 (approximately US $38.569) and €118,889 (approximately US $146,777) from society's perspective and between €20,807 (approximately US $25,688) and €74,585 (approximately US $92.080) from a third-party payer's perspective.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acupuncture is an effective intervention that results in improved quality of life in patients with SAR. However, in times of limited resources for health care, acupuncture for AR may not be a cost-effective intervention.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00610584.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité - University Medical Center, Berlin, Germany. thomas.reinhold@charite.de
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Reinhold
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roll
authors.forename: Stefan N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Willich
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.forename: Claudia M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Witt
authors.forename: Benno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brinkhaus
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000191:economics*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years; D006255:Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D055815:Young Adult